He said Mr. Trump needs to make more of an effort to work with social media companies to prevent another future attack, as well as enforce the sanction powers given to him by Congress. He has been on a U.S. Treasury Department list of sanctioned individuals "for involvement in the situation in Ukraine" since 2014, when he was chairman of the Duma.

Mr. Cardin said he's concerned that without proper protections in place, the Russians will try to meddle in the US elections, as they tried to do in 2016, only this time he fears they could be successful. The head of Russia's military intelligence, the GRU, also came to Washington, though it's not clear that he met with Pompeo.

A USA intelligence assessment released in January 2017 said the two oversaw a hacking-and-propaganda campaign to sway the 2016 election campaign.

Bloomberg reported last week that Dutch intelligence passed on crucial information about Russian interference in the election to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The meeting raised eyebrows for three reasons: It was announced by Russia's ambassador and reported on by the Soviet news agency TASS before it was reported by anyone in the USA; the main attendee was supposed to be barred from the country; and current and former US intelligence officials told the Post they can't remember so many Russian spy and security officials meeting with U.S.at once. They anxious the Kremlin could conclude the United States is open to forgiving Russian Federation for its actions and wasn't resolved to forcefully prevent future meddling. Did any White House or National Security Council officials meet with Naryshkin?

The sanctions are meant to freeze any assets of the individuals under US jurisdiction and prohibit "transactions by USA persons or within the United States involving the individual".

Talks between top United States and Russian intelligence officials occurred just days before Pompeo once again warned that Russia will attempt to meddle in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections and the Trump administration released a sweeping list of prominent Russian political and business figures in defiance of Moscow. "Which U.S. official did he meet with?" Sen. "While we do not discuss the schedules of USA intelligence leaders, rest assured that any interaction with foreign intelligence agencies would have been conducted in accordance with USA law and in consultation with appropriate departments and agencies".

News of the visit of Russia's sanctioned foreign intelligence chief to Washington raised the ire of Democratic congressmen, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer. "The administration instead released a list of more than 200 Russian officials, politicians and 'oligarchs, ' defined as people with a net worth of more than $1 billion - who it said could be penalized".

Just this week, Pompeo warned in an interview with the BBC that Russian Federation was still a threat to American elections.